Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: Prunus avium L. 
Variety denomination: xe2x80x98Brownxe2x80x99.
None.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of sweet cherry tree, Prunus avium L., which, though similar to its parent xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99 (not patented) in some characteristics, is decidedly different in maturity and other characteristics as described herein.
The new variety originated as a whole-branch mutation of a xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99 cherry tree growing in a cultivated orchard located at Wenatchee Heights, near Wenatchee, Wash., U.S.A., some time after the parent xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99 tree was planted in 1986. The mutated branch was first noticed by the inventor in 1994, who initially believed that some disease or other condition was causing the fruit on the mutated branch to ripe 22 to 24 days later than the rest of the tree.
In 1996, the inventor took scionwood from the original mutated branch and grafted it to two established xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99 cherry trees in an adjacent orchard. The established trees had been fruiting for three years. The fruit from the grafted trees is identical to that of the mutated branch of the original tree, thus establishing the trueness to type of the mutation. The claimed variety has further been shown to reproduce true to type over successive asexually propagated generations.
In 1997, 210 trees were budded at Wenatchee, Wash. U.S.A. These third-generation trees started fruiting in 2002.
The new sweet cherry variety is similar, if not identical, to its parent xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99 in wood, leaf, bloom, and most fruit characteristics but is distinct from it in maturity, coloring pattern, firmness, and flavor. Because of its greater firmness, storage quality is longer than xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99.
Interest in this new variety arises from the potentiality of extending the market for a xe2x80x98Bingxe2x80x99-type cherry for at least one month.